6.  The applicants in application no. 27315/06 are:
The applicant in application no. 27449/06 is:
7.  All applicants live in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya), Russia.
8.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
9.  The applicants belong to two families. Their two male relatives were detained in two separate incidents in 2003 and 2002 in Lenina Street in the village of Katyr-Yurt (also spelled as Katar-Yurt), in the Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya, and subsequently disappeared. The first six applicants were present during the abduction of their relative. The seventh applicant was not an eyewitness to the events and her account is based on testimonies collected by her in the aftermath of the disappearance.
10.  The first applicant is a sister of Khamzat Merzhoyev, who was born in 1963. The second applicant is his wife. The third to sixth applicants are the children of Khamzat Merzhoyev and the second applicant.
11.  At the material time the first six applicants, Khamzat Merzhoyev and other relatives lived in two houses at no. 129 Lenina Street (in the documents submitted, the address is also stated as 167 Lenina Street or 167 Kadyrova Street) in Katyr-Yurt. The settlement was under curfew.
12.  On the night of 23 November 2003 the first applicant, her mother and the second, fourth, fifth and sixth applicants were sleeping in the first house. The first applicant shared a room with her mother. The second applicant and her children were in another room. The third applicant, Khamzat Merzhoyev and his elderly father, Mr M.M., who subsequently died, were sleeping in the second house.
13.  At about 3 a.m. a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms arrived at the applicants' gate in several armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and military UAZ cars. Four tall men wearing body armour emerged from the vehicles and burst into the first house. They entered the first applicant and her mother's room and told them to be quiet in unaccented Russian. The women thought that the intruders were Russian servicemen. The men then took the second applicant and her children to the first room. After a warning that a bomb was hidden under the porch, they ordered the women to remain seated and not to leave the house. Some two minutes later the men walked out.
14.  In the meantime, at around 2 a.m. in the second house the third applicant had switched off the television before going to bed. He went to Mr M.M.'s bedroom. Some five minutes later three or four tall men in camouflage uniforms broke into the house. The third applicant thought that they were servicemen. One of them put his rifle barrel to the applicant's neck. The men then pulled Mr M.M. from his couch. While he was trying to get up, they flailed him with a rifle butt. The applicant begged the men to leave Mr M.M. alone. Instead, one of the men slapped the applicant on his neck and shoulders three or four times. Another man tied up the applicant's hands, legs and mouth with adhesive tape. The same was done to Mr M.M. The men ordered the applicant not to leave home and, after spending about ten minutes there, went away.
15.  At the same time the third applicant heard a noise coming from Khamzat Merzhoyev's room, as if there was a fight. The applicant thought that the servicemen were trying to arrest his father. They took Khamzat Merzhoyev outside, put him in one of the vehicles and drove away in an unknown direction.
16.  As soon as the men departed, the third applicant tore up the adhesive tape and rushed to the suffocating Mr M.M. to help him out. When he glimpsed inside his father's bedroom, the latter was no longer there. The third applicant looked out of the window to see one of the intruders walking through the gate and heading for the street. He was thickset.
17.  The third applicant subsequently deposited his grandfather at the first house, where the other five applicants were, and rushed to see Khamzat Merzhoyev's brother, Mr A.M., who lived in the neighbourhood. Once in the street, he saw an APC that had pulled over to Mr K.'s family's gate, some 100 metres away from the first house. A large number of servicemen were walking towards the APC. Shortly afterwards they broke into Mr K.'s house. The applicant heard the women crying inside. Suddenly the noises died away. The applicant went inside Mr A.M.'s house and related the events to him.
18.  In the meantime, as soon as the first and second applicants had learnt from Mr M.M. that Khamzat Merzhoyev had been apprehended and driven away by the servicemen, they rushed down Lenina Street. They saw several military vehicles, including three APCs and some UAZ cars, about 100 metres from their first house. A number of servicemen were sitting on top of the APCs, which were driving to the east end of the village. The men were speaking Russian and Chechen. Those who were speaking Chechen were masked. As they approached the local administration office, the servicemen opened fire.
19.  Thereafter the first and second applicants went to the second house. They saw blood on the floor of Khamzat Merzhoyev's room. They understood that the servicemen had beaten him up.
20.  In the morning of 23 November 2003 the first six applicants found out that six other local men, Mr U.K., Mr S.-M.S., the brothers Mr A.Tul. and Mr K.Tul. and two brothers named Taz. had been apprehended in Katyr-Yurt on the same night by the same servicemen during a special operation. Mr U.K., Mr S.-M.S., one of the Tul. brothers and one of the Taz. brothers had been released that same morning on the outskirts of the village of Shaami-Yurt in the Achkhoy-Martan district. On 25 or 26 November 2003 the second Tul. brother and the second Taz. brother had been released from detention on the premises of the Achkhoy-Martan district department of the interior (“the ROVD”). The first applicant spoke to them after their release. They confirmed that they had been detained at the ROVD.
21.  The first six applicants have had no news of Khamzat Merzhoyev since 23 November 2003.
22.  The description of the events of the night of 23 November 2003 is based on the first applicant's account submitted with the application. In addition, the applicants' representative provided the first and third applicants' accounts given on 4 July 2008 and an account by witness Mr K.T. given on 5 July 2008.
23.  In her account dated 4 July 2008, the first applicant submitted that Khamzat Merzhoyev had participated in the first Chechen war between 1994 and 1996, challenging the authority of the Russian troops. He had been wounded after three or four months of military action. Thereafter he had no longer taken part in the hostilities, including during the second war in Chechnya.
24.  The Government did not challenge most of the facts as presented by the applicants. They submitted that during the night of 23 November 2003 “armed unidentified persons wearing masks and camouflage uniforms” had entered Khamzat Merzhoyev's house at no. 129 Lenina Street and taken him away to an unknown destination. The Government denied any involvement of State agents in Khamzat Merzhoyev's disappearance.
25.  The seventh applicant is the mother of Ali Gastamirov, also referred to as Ali Gastemirov, born in 1979.
26.  On the night of 12 May 2002 the seventh applicant and her husband, Mr A.-Kh.G., were staying with their relatives in a neighbouring village. Their son Ali Gastamirov, his wife, Ms M.G., also referred to as Ms M.T., his two sisters, including Ms Kh.G., and Ms E.Z., Mr A.-Kh.G.'s sister, stayed at home, at no. 8 Lenina Street (in the documents submitted, the address is also referred to as no. 2 Lenina Street) in Katyr-Yurt. The settlement was under curfew.
27.  At the material time the seventh applicant's house was composed of two separate dwellings. That night Ali Gastamirov and Ms M.G. were sharing a room in the first house, whereas Ms Kh.G. was sleeping in a separate room there. Ms E.Z. and Ms Kh.G.'s sister were sleeping in the second house.
28.  At around 4 a.m. a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms parked their cars, an APC and two UAZ vehicles, in the vicinity of the river Shalazhi, some 300 metres away both from a Russian military unit and from the seventh applicant's house. They then headed for Katyr-Yurt on foot.
29.  Between 3 and 4 a.m. a group of ten to sixteen armed men in camouflage uniforms arrived at Lenina Street. Some of them were masked, others were wearing helmets. Five or six of them burst into the house of the seventh applicant's neighbour, Mr A.D., whereas the others remained waiting outside. After five or ten minutes the men walked out of Mr A.D.'s house. Then they split up into two groups: the first broke into the house of Mr M.Sh. and the second into the seventh applicant's house.
30.  Ms Kh.G. was woken up by three armed men in camouflage uniforms. They were tall and heavyset, and were speaking unaccented Russian. One of them was unmasked and had Slavic features. The men conducted a quick search of the room. They did not allow Ms Kh.G. to join her brother in the neighbouring room. At some point the men ordered Ms M.G. to open the second house to them. She obeyed.
31.  Ms E.Z., who was sleeping in the second house, was woken up by six or seven armed men in camouflage uniforms. One of them was unmasked and had Slavic features. They started searching the house. Fear rendered Ms E.Z. powerless and she fainted.
32. In the meantime the servicemen burst into Ali Gastamirov's room. They asked him questions and checked his passport. They further took him to the street on the pretext of showing them around the backyard. Ali Gastamirov asked Ms Kh.G. to follow him. The men objected. They hustled Ms Kh.G. and Ms M.G. into the house and closed the front door with an axe from the outside. Ms Kh.G. and Ms M.G. understood that the servicemen had taken Ali Gastamirov away.
33.  At the same time the second group of servicemen walked out of Mr M.Sh.'s house.
34.  Once in the street, the two groups of servicemen got together in a tight circle, as if they were trying to hide someone in the middle. Thereafter they ran in the direction of a pasture field on the outskirts of Katyr-Yurt, where regiment no. 47 of the Russian federal forces was deployed.
35.  Some five or ten minutes later Ms Kh.G. and Ms M.G. managed to open the front door. They looked around but saw nobody in the backyard or in the street. Suddenly they heard the roar of engines starting up, coming from the river. Ms Kh.G. could distinguish the roar of an APC. The women thought that the cars belonged to the abductors. Then they heard the cars driving away.
36.  At around 5 a.m. the neighbours got together at the seventh applicant's house. They saw clear footprints left by Ali Gastamirov and the servicemen in the yard, which led to the pasture field where the servicemen had parked their cars.
37.  At around 9 a.m. the seventh applicant and her husband returned home. The neighbours related Ali Gastamirov's abduction to them.
38.  The seventh applicant has had no news of Ali Gastamirov since 12 May 2002.
39.  The description of the events of the night of 12 May 2002 is based on the seventh applicant's account submitted with the application. In addition, the following accounts have been provided by the applicant's representative: the seventh applicant's account, given on 18 December 2008; an account by Ms Kh.G., given on 1 November 2008; an account by Ms E.Z. given on 14 November 2008; an account by Mr Z.A., given on 29 November 2008; an account by witness Mr I.Sh., given on 14 December 2008; an account by witness Mr Kh.B., given on 18 December 2008; and an extract from the Achkhoy-Martan district newspaper Iman, dated 8 July 2002.
40.  The Government did not challenge most of the facts as submitted by the seventh applicant. They stated that at about 4 a.m. on 12 May 2002 “armed unidentified persons wearing masks and camouflage uniforms” had apprehended Ali Gastamirov in his house at no. 2 Lenina Street and then abducted him. The Government argued that there were no grounds to suspect that State agents had been involved in Ali Gastamirov's disappearance.
41.  The applicants and their relatives contacted, both in person and in writing, various official bodies, such as the Russian President, the Chechen administration, military commanders' offices, departments of the interior and prosecutors' offices at different levels, describing in detail the circumstances of their relatives' apprehension and asking for help in establishing their whereabouts. The applicants kept copies of a number of those letters and submitted them to the Court. An official investigation was opened by the local prosecutor's office in both cases. The applicants received hardly any substantive information from the official bodies about the investigation into the disappearances. Their letters to the relevant authorities were mostly forwarded to the district prosecutor's office and the ROVD. The relevant information is summarised below.
42.  On 23 November 2003 the first and second applicants, accompanied by their relatives, went to the ROVD to enquire about Khamzat Merzhoyev. Police officers told them that he was not being held there. The applicants asked the police officers to pass warm clothes and shoes on to Khamzat, as he had been detained without any. The officers took the clothes and shoes from them.
43.  Later on the same day the first and second applicants went to the prosecutor's office of the Achkhoy-Martan district (“the district prosecutor's office”) where they met Mr A.E., the head of the Katyr-Yurt administration. Mr A.E. told the applicants that six persons out of the seven detained would be released. He was unaware who would be retained by the police.
44.  Thereafter the first and second applicants returned to the ROVD. On the evening of 23 November 2003 the police officers gave them back the clothing that the applicants had handed over in the morning. The police officers told them that Khamzat had been provided with the necessary clothing and that he did not need anything.
45.  Over the next few days Khamzat Merzhoyev's relatives regularly went to the ROVD and the district prosecutor's office. None of the officials whom they met there was able to tell the applicants why Khamzat had been detained and where he was being held.
46.  A week after Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction Mr A.E. told Mr S.‑M.M., Khamzat Merzhoyev's brother, that the head of the Achkhoy-Martan district administration had informed him that Khamzat would not be released, for an unknown reason.
47.  Two or three months after Khamzat Merzhoyev's disappearance Mr Sh.K., the head of the ROVD, informed the applicants and their relatives that he had almost established Khamzat's whereabouts. Mr Sh.K. refused to provide any further assistance to the applicants.
48.  On 30 November 2003 Mr M.M. requested the district prosecutor's office to open an investigation into Khamzat Merzhoyev's kidnapping.
49.  On 10 December 2003 the district prosecutor's office launched a criminal investigation (file no. 44090) into the abduction of Khamzat Merzhoyev under Article 126 § 2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated kidnapping).
50.  On 11 December 2003 the district prosecutor's office granted victim status to Mr S.-M.M.
51.  Between January 2004 and May 2005 the first applicant complained about her brother's abduction to a number of law-enforcement authorities, including the Prosecutor General's office. However, she did not submit copies of those letters to the Court.
52.  On 10 April 2004 the district prosecutor's office stayed the investigation in case no. 44090 on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators.
53.  On 26 April 2004 the prosecutor's office of the Chechen Republic (“the Chechnya prosecutor's office”) resumed the investigation.
54.  On 1 June 2004 the district prosecutor's office stayed the investigation in case no. 44090 because the term of the preliminary investigation had expired and the perpetrators had not been identified.
55.  On an unspecified date the first applicant lodged an action with the Achkhoy-Martan District Court (“the district court”), seeking to have Khamzat Merzhoyev declared a missing person, in order to receive a pension for the loss of the family breadwinner. On 14 February 2005 the district court allowed her action and declared Khamzat Merzhoyev a missing person. The court noted that the criminal investigation in case no. 44090 had been pending since 28 December 2004.
56.  On 21 June 2005 the first applicant wrote to the military prosecutor's office of the United Group Alignment (“the military prosecutor's office of the UGA”), requesting assistance in the search for Khamzat Merzhoyev.
57.  On 27 June 2005 the Chechnya prosecutor's office informed the first applicant that it had examined her complaint about Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction. According to the letter, the authorities had been conducting operational-search measures aimed at solving the crime.
58.  On 7 July 2005 the ROVD informed the first applicant that the ROVD had opened operational-search file no. 91615 and had been taking measures to establish Khamzat Merzhoyev's whereabouts.
59.  On 12 July 2005 the ROVD informed the family that the operational-search measures aimed at establishing Khamzat Merzhoyev's whereabouts had failed to produce any results.
60.  On 23 November 2005 a group of dwellers of the Achkhoy-Martan district submitted to the Russian President a request for help in establishing the whereabouts of their 140 relatives, including Khamzat Merzhoyev. They submitted that their relatives had been abducted during counter-terrorist operations, conducted by Russian federal servicemen from 2000 to 2004 in that district.
61.  On 9 December 2005 the petitions department of the Office of the Russian President (Управление Президента Российской Федерации по работе с обращениями граждан – “the petitions department”) forwarded their request to the Prosecutor's General Office for examination.
62.  On 12 January 2006 the military prosecutor's office of the UGA forwarded the first applicant's request for assistance in the search for Khamzat Merzhoyev to the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 for examination.
63.  On 18 January 2006 the main department of the Russian Ministry of the Interior in the Southern Federal Circuit informed the first applicant that her complaint had been registered and forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior of Chechnya (“the Chechnya MVD”) for examination.
64.  On 30 January 2006 the department of military counter-intelligence of the Federal Security Service (“the FSB”) informed the first applicant that the examination of her complaint had failed to establish Khamzat Merzhoyev's whereabouts. The authorities had been taking measures to identify the perpetrators of the crime and witnesses to his abduction.
65.  On 2 February 2006 the criminal police of the Chechnya MVD wrote to the first applicant that the operational-search measures aimed at establishing her brother's whereabouts had failed to produce any results. The authority invited her to study the investigation file on the premises of the district prosecutor's office.
66.  On 7 February 2006 the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 informed the first applicant that the examination of her complaint had failed to establish the involvement of any servicemen in the abduction of her brother.
67.  On 17 February 2006 the Chechnya MVD informed the first applicant that Khamzat Merzhoyev had not been included on the authorities' wanted list.
68.  On 11 April 2006 the district prosecutor's office informed the first applicant that it had taken the following investigative measures in criminal case no. 44090: examination of the crime scene; drafting of an investigation plan; granting victim status to a close relative of the disappeared; questioning of a number of persons familiar with Khamzat Merzhoyev; forwarding of information requests concerning his whereabouts to various law-enforcement authorities; and some other operational-search measures. According to the document, the supervising prosecutor had issued instructions aimed at solving the crime. In addition, the document stated that the investigation was considering a number of possible versions of Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction, according to which the crime could have been committed by servicemen of the law-enforcement authorities and/or other “power structures” (силовые структуры), as well as by members of illegal armed groups or by other persons seeking a ransom or vengeance as a result of a blood feud. According to the letter, the authorities had no “discrediting information” about Khamzat Merzhoyev. Lastly, the district prosecutor's office informed the first applicant that, notwithstanding the decision of 1 June 2004 to stay the investigation, operational-search measures were under way.
69.  On 10 July 2006 the first applicant submitted a new complaint to the district prosecutor's office. She stated in particular that she had been granted victim status in criminal case no. 44090. However, the prosecuting authorities had failed to inform her of the progress of the investigation. Consequently, she had had no opportunity to challenge their decisions. The applicant requested the district prosecutor's office to inform her of the progress of the investigation, to grant her leave to study the investigation file and make copies of it, and to resume the investigation into the abduction, in the event that it had been suspended. The first applicant did not enclose the decision to grant her victim status with the application to the Court.
70.  On 17 and 25 May 2007 the criminal police of the Chechnya MVD wrote to the first applicant that operational-search measures aiming to establish Khamzat Merzhoyev's whereabouts and to arrest the abductors were under way. The authority invited the applicant to study the investigation file on the premises of the district prosecutor's office.
71.  On 2 July 2007 military unit no. 14057 replied to the first applicant that the Russian federal forces had not carried out any special operation at no. 129 Lenina Street in November 2003. The military unit had been pursuing search measures in order to establish her brother's whereabouts.
72.  On 26 July 2007 the Chechnya FSB department wrote to the first applicant that it had no information either about Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction on 23 November 2003 or about his current whereabouts. The department informed her that the Chechnya prosecutor's office was the authority competent to deal with the investigation and forwarded the applicant's complaint to that office for examination.
73.  On 16 August 2007 the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 informed the first applicant that no evidence had been found to support the involvement of servicemen in the abduction of her brother. The office promised to assist the district prosecutor's office in conducting further search measures.
74.  With reference to the first applicant's complaint of 10 July 2006, on 9 June 2008 the Achkhoy-Martan district investigations department wrote to her that, in accordance with the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure, the victim in a criminal case had the right to study the records of investigative measures conducted in his or her presence, to challenge them and to study the entire investigation file upon the completion of the investigation. The department informed the applicant that the preliminary investigation in case no. 44090 was pending.
75.  It appears that the criminal investigation into Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction has remained pending thereafter.
76.  On the morning of 12 May 2002, as soon as the seventh applicant returned home, she started the search for Ali Gastamirov.
77.  Accompanied by her neighbours, she pursued the servicemen's footprints, which soon led her to their parking place close to the Shalazhi river. They could identify tracks left by an APC and two UAZ vehicles.
78.  Thereafter, the applicant and her neighbours went to the nearby military unit and asked the military commander to release Ali Gastamirov. The commander told them that the military unit had never detained Ali Gastamirov and that he was not being held there. The commander did not let them enter the premises.
79.  On the same day the seventh applicant and her husband went to the Achkhoy-Martan ROVD and the prosecutor's office to complain about their son's disappearance. Although they managed to have private talks with some officials, they were not allowed to go inside. The officials promised to find their son.
80.  On 13 May 2002 the district prosecutor's office initiated an investigation into the abduction of Ali Gastamirov under Article 127 § 2 of the Criminal Code (unlawful deprivation of liberty). The case file was assigned number 63013.
81.  On 13 May 2002 the district prosecutor's office granted victim status in case no. 63013 to the applicant's husband, Mr A.-Kh.G. The seventh applicant asserted that she had been granted victim status on the same day. However, she did not append the relevant decision.
82.  On the same day the investigator Mr F.A. visited the applicant's house. He questioned the seventh applicant, Mr A.-Kh.G. and Ms M.G., who told him that the traces of the vehicles which the abductors had used on the previous day were still visible. Mr F.A. took some photographs in the applicant's dwellings but did not examine the traces. The applicant and her relatives also told the investigator that some neighbours had been eyewitnesses to Ali Gastamirov's abduction, that the abductors had also broken into some neighbouring houses and that the officers of the nearby military unit could have seen the vehicles used by them. Mr F.A. did not question any neighbour that day. The applicant, Mr A.-Kh.G. and Ms M.G. lastly stated that the abductors were servicemen, that they could have apprehended Ali Gastamirov and that they were keeping hold of him.
83.  Thereafter, the investigator accompanied the seventh applicant and her relatives to the military unit. He entered the premises and soon reappeared. Mr F.A. said that he had checked the premises but Ali Gastamirov had not been there. Mr F.A. promised the relatives that he would find Ali and drove away.
84.  On 14 May 2002 Ali Gastamirov's relatives and neighbours picketed in the centre of Katyr-Yurt in an attempt to draw the attention of the authorities to the abduction. The picket lasted three days. Servicemen from the nearest checkpoint at the east end of the village dissuaded them from continuing to protest, promising that Ali Gastamirov would soon be released. The applicant enclosed a video record of the protest with her submissions.
85.  Over the next several weeks the seventh applicant complained about her son's abduction, both in person and in writing, to different official bodies.
86.  In June 2002 an investigator of the district prosecutor's office questioned some of the applicant's neighbours. The investigator asked them whether Ali Gastamirov had participated in illegal armed groups. The circumstances of Ali's apprehension were of no interest to him.
87.  On 7 February 2003 the district prosecutor's office forwarded to Mr A.-Kh.G. a request sent to the ROVD for assistance in the search for his son with a view to organising the search.
88.  On 17 December 2003 the Chechnya MVD informed the seventh applicant that the authorities had opened criminal case no. 63013 and that the investigation into the abduction of Ali Gastamirov was under way.
89.  On 19 July 2004 the Prosecutor General's Office replied to the seventh applicant's request for a personal meeting. The letter stated that her complaint had failed to provide enough reasons for the organisation of such a meeting with the Prosecutor General.
90.  On 20 September and 10 November 2004 the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 informed the applicant that the examination of her complaint had not established any involvement of Russian servicemen in the crime. The office forwarded her complaint to the Chechnya prosecutor's office.
91.  On 18 July 2005 the district military commander's office informed the applicant that neither its office nor any other district power structures had conducted operational-search measures in Katyr-Yurt on 11 May 2002. The letter also stated that measures to establish her son's whereabouts were under way.
92.  On 25 July 2005 the district prosecutor's office informed the seventh applicant that the investigation in criminal case no. 63013 had carried out a number of investigative measures. It had forwarded queries concerning Ali Gastamirov's whereabouts to various law-enforcement authorities and official bodies and pursued its cooperation with a number of other State authorities. According to the letter, the authorities had been taking operational-search measures aimed at solving the crime.
93.  On 23 November 2005 a group of dwellers of the Achkhoy-Martan district submitted to the Russian President a request for help in establishing the whereabouts of their 140 relatives, including Ali Gastamirov. They submitted that their relatives had been abducted during counter-terrorist operations, conducted by servicemen from 2000 to 2004 in that district.
94.  On 17 September 2006 the investigation in case no. 63031 was suspended on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators.
95.  It appears that the investigation was subsequently resumed.
96.  In July 2008 the investigation questioned some of the seventh applicant's neighbours who had witnessed her son's abduction.
97.  On 25 November 2008 the Chechnya prosecutor's office informed Mr A.-Kh.G. that the investigation in case no. 63031 had been suspended on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators.
(b)  Leave to study the investigation file
98.  On 10 July 2006 and 24 January 2008 the seventh applicant applied to the district prosecutor's office, seeking leave to study the investigation file and to make copies of it. In the first application she indicated that at around 4 a.m. on 12 May 2002 “a large group of up to 40 federal servicemen” had apprehended and taken away Ali Gastamirov.
99.  On 1 February 2008 the district prosecutor's office refused her requests. The office replied that until the completion of the investigation the applicant had only the right to study the records of the investigative steps which had been conducted in her presence.
100.  Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose most of the contents of the criminal investigation files. Thus, they submitted 160 pages from criminal investigation file no. 44090 and 47 pages from criminal investigation file no. 63031. They produced several witness statements and decisions to grant victim status in relation to both cases. The documents provided in relation to criminal investigation file no. 44090 also included correspondence between different State authorities on the progress of the investigation. The documents provided in relation to criminal investigation file no. 63031 included the decision to open the investigation. No other documents, such as expert reports or letters to the relatives informing them of the adjournment and reopening of the proceedings, were produced by the Government.
101.  Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the remaining documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the files contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
102.  The documents, as well as the Government's submissions with regard to the investigation in cases nos. 44090 and 63031, can be summarised as follows.
103.  In their observations the Government did not dispute most of the information concerning the investigation of the abduction of Khamzat Merzhoyev as submitted by the first six applicants. They referred to a number of other procedural steps taken by the investigation which had not been mentioned by the applicants. However, the Government did not submit copies of most of the documents to which they referred (see below).
104.  The Government stated that on 28 November 2003, and not on 30 November 2003 as the applicants asserted, Mr M.M. had submitted a written application to the district prosecutor's office to open an investigation into Khamzat Merzhoyev's kidnapping. The Government submitted that prior to 28 November 2003 a check had been conducted by the ROVD.
105. On 10 December 2003 the district prosecutor's office launched a criminal investigation (file no. 44090) into the abduction of Khamzat Merzhoyev from his house by “armed unidentified persons wearing camouflage uniforms and masks”.
106.  On 11 December 2003 Mr S.-M.M. was granted victim status. The Government did not specify whether any of the six applicants had also been granted victim status.
107.  The Government submitted that Mr S.-M.M. had been questioned. However, they did not produce his account or specify the date of the questioning. According to the Government, Mr S.-M.M. had learnt from his relatives that at about 3 a.m. on 23 November 2003 two unknown armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms had broken into their house at no. 167 Lenina Street in Katyr-Yurt. The men had hit Mr M.M. with a rifle butt, tied up his hands and legs with adhesive tape and taken away Khamzat Merzhoyev. The applicants' neighbours had seen APCs and a UAZ vehicle in the street that night.
108.  The Government stated that between December 2002 and May 2004 the investigation had questioned over fifty witnesses, including the first and second applicants, most probably the third applicant – the Government referred to the latter as Khamzat Merzhoyev's son – as well as Mr A.M., Mr M.M. and the applicants' neighbours. The neighbours had not been eyewitnesses to the abduction. The Government appended copies of thirty transcripts. They failed to produce copies of the accounts given by the first three applicants, Mr A.M., Mr M.M. and the other witnesses who had been questioned by the investigation.
109.  The applicants' neighbours provided the following information.
110.  On 14 December 2003 Mr S.-A.I., who lived in the same street as the first six applicants, testified that he personally knew Khamzat Merzhoyev and his family. They had no enemies and had not been involved in a blood feud. Mr S.-A.I. characterised Khamzat as a calm, decent and easygoing person, who had been taking care of his parents and had lived in their house. Khamzat had not participated in illegal armed groups or any criminal activities and had no “discrediting connections”. On the morning of 23 November 2003 Mr S.-A.I. had learnt from his neighbours that a number of armed and masked men wearing camouflage uniforms had burst into Khamzat's house and taken him away to an unknown destination. His whereabouts had not been established. The relatives' search for Khamzat had not yielded any results. After the abduction, the investigating authorities had visited the relatives in order to question them and their neighbours, and had examined their house.
111.  On 27 March 2004 Mr B.G. reported that there had been about fifteen armed men in the applicants' house that night.
112.  On 18 May 2004 the investigation questioned Mr A.Ya., who added that the intruders, who had spoken Russian, had not told the applicants which bodies they were representing. They had acted quickly so as not to let the applicants leave the backyard. None of the applicants had been able to distinguish the hull numbers of the UAZ car used by the intruders because of the dark.
113.  The Government produced copies of another twenty accounts given by the applicants' neighbours between December 2003 and May 2004. Sixteen neighbours gave a similar account of the events to that given by Mr S.-A.I., Mr B.G. and Mr A.Ya. Two neighbours questioned on 17 December 2003 added that the intruders had battered Khamzat Merzhoyev upon his arrest. Eleven statements collected in May 2004 literally reproduced Mr A.Ya.'s testimonies. Three out of the twenty neighbours did not know Khamzat Merzhoyev and his family and denied any knowledge of his abduction.
114.  On 12 May 2004 the investigation questioned Mr A.E., the head of the Katyr-Yurt administration. Mr A.E. testified that at around 4 a.m. on the night of 23 November 2003 he had been woken up by relatives of Khamzat Merzhoyev, Mr S.A., Mr U.K., and relatives of the Tul. and Taz. brothers. They had recounted their relatives' abduction and added that the latter had been subsequently released. On a later date Mr A.E. had had a private talk with the abducted persons, excluding Khamzat Merzhoyev. They had explained that the abductors had not been violent and had only asked them about their involvement in illegal armed groups. The abductors had released them after a document check. None of the abducted persons had applied to the police in connection with the kidnapping. None of them had seen Khamzat Merzhoyev ever since. After the events all the above-mentioned persons had left Chechnya, fearing for their safety. Mr A.E. was unaware why those persons, including Khamzat Merzhoyev, had been detained and whether they had participated in illegal armed groups. Mr A.E. had no knowledge of Khamzat's whereabouts.
115.  The investigation also questioned other persons who had been abducted during the night of 23 November 2003. The Government submitted copies of the accounts given by Mr U.K., Mr S.-M.S., Mr S.A., Mr K.Tul. and Mr A.Tul. The testimonies of the Taz. brothers were not enclosed with the Government's observations. It is unclear whether both of them were questioned.
116.  On 3 May 2004 Mr U.K. testified that on the night of 23 November 2003 he had been sleeping in his house at no. 161 Lenina Street in Katyr-Yurt. He had shared his bedroom with Mr S.-M.S., a relative. Mr U.K.'s mother, sister, wife and children were sleeping in two other rooms. At about 3 a.m. Mr U.K. had woken up because his wife was crying. He had gone to her bedroom and seen four or five armed persons wearing masks and camouflage uniforms. They had ordered him and Mr S.-M.S. to lie on the floor. They had obeyed. The intruders had not used violence or threats against them. Thereafter the men had taken Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. out of the house, pulled their T-shirts over their heads and hustled them into a grey UAZ vehicle. Some other unknown armed men had been in the vehicle. The men had driven Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. out of the village, checked their identity documents and asked whether they had participated in illegal armed groups. Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. had replied in the negative and the men had let them go. Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. had spent some 20 minutes in the vehicle. Mr U.K. was unaware whether other persons had been arrested that night. Soon after the accident Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. had left Chechnya for work-related matters. They had returned in May 2004.
117.  Mr S.-M.S., questioned on 4 May 2004, corroborated Mr U.K.'s statements. He considered that they had been apprehended for an ordinary document check and, therefore, had persuaded the relatives not to submit an application to the prosecutor's office. Mr U.K. and Mr S.-M.S. had been involved in some construction business in Ingushetia. They occasionally returned to Chechnya in order to give money to their relatives.
118.  On 6 May 2004 the investigation questioned Mr S.A. He stated that on the night of 23 November 2003 he had been sleeping in his house at no. 47 Ordzhonikidze Street in Katyr-Yurt. At about 3 a.m. between five and ten unknown armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms had broken into his house. One of them had ordered Mr S.A. to get dressed and take his passport. He had obeyed. Afterwards the men had taken Mr S.A. to their UAZ car. Except for Mr S.A. and the men, there was no one else inside. The men had not used violence or threats against him. They had driven him out of the village and asked whether he had participated in illegal armed groups. Mr S.A. had replied in the negative and added that he had no information about any members of such groups. Then the men had let him go. On the following day, fearing for his safety, Mr S.A. had gone to Ingushetia to his relatives. He had returned to Katyr-Yurt in May 2004.
119.  On 8 and 10 May 2004 respectively the investigation questioned Mr K.Tul. and Mr A.Tul., his elder brother. They testified that on the night of 23 November 2003 they had been sleeping in their house at no. 6 Shosseynyy Lane in Katyr-Yurt. At about 3 a.m. unknown armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms had broken into the house. Five or six men had woken them up. There had been a large number of unknown armed men outside. The intruders had ordered Mr K.Tul. and Mr A.Tul. to get dressed and had pulled jackets over their heads. Afterwards the men had taken them to the backyard, put them in the back of a Ural truck and driven them out of the village. The men had asked the brothers whether they had participated in illegal armed groups. The brothers had replied in the negative. Then the men had let them go. The men had not used violence against them. The brothers had not requested the prosecuting authorities to open an investigation into their abduction. On the following day Mr K.Tul., his brother and the latter's family had gone to their relatives in the Samara Region, fearing for their safety. They had been living there since then.
120.  According to the Government, one of the Taz. brothers, Mr Ya.Taz., testified on an unspecified date that unknown persons had driven him out of the village and asked about his involvement in illegal armed groups. Afterwards they had let him go home. On the following day Mr Ya.Taz. had left Chechnya with his relatives.
121.  On 5 July 2008 the investigation questioned Mr M.Ch., an investigator at the ROVD. He stated that he was aware that on 23 November 2003 a group of about fifteen armed men in APCs had abducted Khamzat Merzhoyev from his house. After the resumption of the investigation in case no. 44090, the ROVD had taken a number of measures to establish Khamzat Merzhoyev's whereabouts, such as questioning eyewitnesses and neighbours and visiting the Operational Search Bureau (“the ORB”), the FSB and the Department for Organised Crime of the Chechnya MVD. However, those measures had not yielded any results. Operational-search measures had been under way.
122.  In December 2003 the investigator had inspected three checkpoints situated at the exit from Achkhoy-Martan to the Rostov-Baku road, the exit from Achkhoy-Martan towards Katyr-Yurt, and the exit from Katyr-Yurt towards Urus-Martan. Having examined the registration logs at the checkpoints, the investigator found no record of vehicles that had transited the checkpoints between 22 and 24 November 2003. The investigation also noted that the pages had not been numbered or bound and that they contained corrections of the registrations of vehicles that had passed through them at night.
123.  The Government stated that the investigating authorities had sent queries to various State bodies, asking them to provide information concerning Khamzat Merzhoyev's apprehension and detention, any requests for medical assistance or any “discrediting” information about him, as well as information on special operations which could have been conducted in Katyr-Yurt on the night of 23 November 2003. In their letters different district departments of the interior stated that “on the night of 23 November 2003 Khamzat Merzhoyev was abducted from a private house in Katyr-Yurt”. The Government produced copies of the replies to such requests, which can be summarised as follows.
124.  In February 2004 the ORB-2 and the Chechnya FSB department informed the investigation that they had no information about Khamzat Merzhoyev. On 22 April 2004 the Ingushetia FSB department stated that no special operations had been conducted in Katyr-Yurt by the FSB forces and also denied having any information about Khamzat Merzhoyev.
125.  In December 2003, February, March and April 2004 the FSB departments in the Southern Federal Circuit and the local bodies of the Ministry of the Interior notified the investigation that they neither had any “discrediting” information about Khamzat Merzhoyev nor any information about his apprehension and abduction or the abductors' whereabouts. In May 2004 the ORB-2 and the criminal police of the Chechnya MVD replied that a number of measures had been taken to establish the abductors' whereabouts. The ORB-2 had been verifying whether any persons who had been delivered to its premises could have committed the crime.
126.  The investigating authorities were unable to establish the whereabouts of Khamzat Merzhoyev. In December 2003 and January, February and April 2004 local bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, FSB departments and remand centres in the Southern Federal Circuit had replied that they had never detained Khamzat Merzhoyev on criminal or administrative charges and had not carried out any criminal investigation in respect of him. On 27 December 2003 the Urus-Martan ROVD reported that it had conducted a number of operational-search measures in connection with Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction, which had revealed the following. Khamzat Merzhoyev had not been arrested or detained by the district law-enforcement authorities. He had not applied for help to the Urus-Martan ROVD or medical facilities. The internal databases had no information concerning the discovery of a body or the identification of a person without identification documents resembling him. The ROVD had disseminated search briefings (розыскные ориентировки) concerning Khamzat Merzhoyev across the district. In December 2003 and January 2004 other district departments of the interior, FSB departments and prosecutor's offices in the Southern Federal Circuit produced similar replies. They had informed their staff, subordinates and the public about Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction. On 24 June 2004 the criminal police department of the Achkhoy-Martan ROVD informed the investigator that it had opened an operational-search file in connection with Khamzat Merzhoyev's abduction. The department had checked whether any persons registered in its database could have committed the crime.
127.  The Government acknowledged that the investigation in case no. 44090 had been adjourned on several occasions but it had subsequently been resumed and had remained pending thereafter. The Prosecutor General's Office was supervising the progress of the investigation. The Government further submitted that the investigating authorities had considered different possible versions of Khamzat Merzhoyev's kidnapping, including the involvement of servicemen. However, the investigation had so far failed to identify who was guilty.
128.  The Government did not dispute most of the information provided by the seventh applicant relating to the investigation of her son's abduction.
129.  The Government submitted that on 13 May 2002 the district prosecutor's office had launched criminal investigation file no. 63031 into the abduction of Ali Gastamirov from his house by “unidentified armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms” on the night of 12 May 2002. The investigation had been initiated at Mr A.-Kh.G.'s request.
130.  On 13 May 2002 Mr A.-Kh.G. was granted victim status in case no. 63031. The Government disputed that victim status had been granted to the seventh applicant.
131.  On the same day the investigation questioned Mr A.-Kh.G. as a victim, and the seventh applicant and Ms M.G. as witnesses. The Government provided copies of the transcripts.
132.  Mr A.-Kh.G. testified that on the night of 12 May 2002 he had been sleeping at home. At around 4 a.m. a group of unknown armed men wearing masks and camouflage uniforms had broken into his house from the backyard. Five or six men had entered the house through the front door, while the others had remained waiting outside. The men had headed for Ali's and Ms M.G.'s room. On their way they had locked Mr A.-Kh.G., the applicant and their children in their room. The men had checked Ali's passport, asked him to get dressed and dragged him, barefoot, to the backyard. The men had ordered Mr A.-Kh.G. and the applicant to stay in the house and had threatened to open fire. All in all, the intruders had spent five minutes in the house. Ms A.M., a neighbour, had seen that there had been some fifteen or sixteen men in the backyard. One of them, a tall, heavyset and blond-haired man, had been unmasked. Ms A.M. would be able to identify him. The men had taken Ali Gastamirov and headed for a military unit, which was located across the Shalazhi river and some 700 or 800 metres from Mr A.-Kh.G.'s house. Some military forces had been deployed there since 2 May 2002. Ms A.M. had then heard the roar of a starting engine, which could have been an APC, some 300 metres from the house. After his son's abduction, Mr A.-Kh.G. had seen the tracks left by the APC, leading to the above-mentioned military unit. The servicemen deployed there had been living in tents. Mr A.-Kh.G. was unaware which unit it was. He said that Ali Gastamirov had not been involved in any illegal armed groups. He further provided a detailed physical description of his son and of the clothes that he had been wearing on the night of his abduction.
133.  The seventh applicant and Ms M.G. corroborated Mr A.-Kh.G.'s statements. The seventh applicant added that the men had burst all the light bulbs in the backyard so that nobody could see what they were doing. She also recalled that the men had gone in the direction of the deployment of regiment no. 47 and other military forces. Ms M.G. clarified that the seventh applicant and her husband had not witnessed the abduction as the intruders had locked them in their room. Ms M.G. was an eyewitness to the events. She added that the intruders had spoken unaccented Russian and that she would be able to identify the unmasked man.
134.  On 18 May 2002 the investigation again questioned the seventh applicant and her husband. As appears from their transcripts enclosed with the Government's submissions, they both changed their initial statements, without clarifying the reason for the change. In particular, they admitted to having stayed in Grozny with their relatives on the night of 12 May 2002. In the morning, upon their return to Katyr-Yurt, the seventh applicant and her husband had learnt that Ali had been taken away by unknown armed men in masks and camouflage uniforms. They had had no news of him thereafter. They had immediately contacted the ROVD and the district military commander's office, which had denied having detained Ali Gastamirov. On 13 May 2002 they had submitted a request to the district prosecutor's office to open an investigation in connection with his abduction.
135.  As appears from the Government's submissions, they also referred to another statement by Ms M.G., in which she had acknowledged that Ali Gastamirov's parents had spent the night of 12 May 2002 in Grozny. The Government submitted that after Ali's abduction, Ms M.G. and his two sisters had been locked in the house. Therefore, Ms M.G. had not been able to see in which direction the intruders had departed. Ms A.M. had told her that there had been fifteen or sixteen men, who had headed for the river. The Government did not produce a copy of the transcript.
136.  The Government submitted that the investigation had questioned over thirty witnesses, including Ms A.M., Ms Kh.G., personnel of the ROVD and the Katyr-Yurt administration, as well as a number of neighbours. The Government produced copies of six accounts given by the neighbours and a brief outline of some other witness statements, without specifying the dates of the questioning. These submissions can be summarised as follows.
137.  As appears from the transcripts enclosed, the six neighbours were questioned on 18 and 22 July 2006 and on 15 July 2008. They had learnt about Ali Gastamirov's abduction from their neighbours on 12 May 2002. They personally knew Ali and characterised him as a shy, outgoing and hard-working person. Between 4 and 5 a.m. that night some fifteen or sixteen unknown armed men had burst into his house and taken him away to an unknown destination. The intruders had not introduced themselves, nor had they said why and where they were taking Ali. When Ali's relatives had attempted to help him escape, the men had threatened them with guns. The six neighbours had no information that Ali Gastamirov had been involved in illegal armed groups or blood feuds. They were not cognisant of his whereabouts and did not know who could have abducted him.
138.  The Government submitted that the investigation had questioned forty other neighbours, who had given a similar account of the events.
139.  The Government cited testimony given by another neighbour, Ms A.M., on an unspecified date. On the night of 12 May 2002 she had been woken up by the noise coming from neighbouring houses. She had seen some fifteen or sixteen masked armed men in camouflage uniforms enter the seventh applicant's backyard, burst all the light bulbs there and break down the front door of the house. Some five or seven minutes later, the intruders had taken Ali Gastamirov away. One of them had been unmasked and she would be able to identify him. Then Ms A.M. had heard the roar of an engine. She thought that it had been an APC.
140.  According to the Government, on an unspecified date Ms Kh.G. related that on the night of 12 May 2002 a group of armed men in masks and camouflage uniforms had burst into the house. One of them had been unmasked. The men had checked Ali Gastamirov's passport and then taken him away. Ms M.G., Ms Kh.G. and her younger sister had attempted to stop the intruders but the latter had locked them in a room and left.
141.  The Government referred to a statement by Mr L.A., an employee of the Katyr-Yurt administration, who on an unspecified date had described Ali Gastamirov as a decent person who had not taken part in illegal armed groups. On 12 May 2002 Mr A.-Kh.G. had contacted him in person and recounted his son's abduction.
142.  In a statement cited in the Government's observations, Mr R.Z., a police officer at the ROVD, had testified on an unknown date that Katyr-Yurt dwellers had informed him of Ali Gastamirov's abduction by unknown armed persons on 12 May 2002. The ROVD had on a number of occasions conducted house-to-house enquiries in order to establish the circumstances of the abduction and find out any information about the abductors. However, those measures had proved to be unsuccessful, since the crime had taken place at night and nobody could have seen anything.
143.  The Government submitted that on 13 May 2005 the investigating authorities had sent a number of queries to various State bodies in the Southern Federal Circuit in order to establish the whereabouts of Ali Gastamirov and his abductors. Without producing copies of their replies, the Government stated that law-enforcement authorities had not arrested or detained Ali Gastamirov on criminal or administrative charges, that he had never been held in remand centres and that no unidentified body resembling him had been discovered. The Government also stated that a number of operational-search measures had been taken to establish Ali Gastamirov's whereabouts but they did not specify what those measures had been.
144.  On 10 July 2006 the seventh applicant submitted a written complaint to the district prosecutor's office, in which she stated that her son had been detained on 12 May 2002 by a large group of armed servicemen using APCs and a UAZ vehicle. She stated that on 13 May 2002 she had been granted the status of a victim in the criminal investigation opened into the abduction. She complained that the investigation had lasted for four years without any visible progress and that she had lost confidence in its effectiveness. Accordingly, she asked to be allowed access to the material relating to the investigation and to be informed about the progress of the investigation and of its current status.
145.  Without referring to any specific document, the Government further stated in their observations that the “special branches of the power structures” (специальные подразделения силовых структур) had not carried out any special operation in Katyr-Yurt during the period relevant to the investigation.
146.  The Government argued that notwithstanding the fact that the seventh applicant had not been granted victim status, she had been kept informed of all relevant decisions taken during the investigation.
147.  The Government submitted that the investigation in case no. 63031 had been suspended and resumed on several occasions, and had so far failed to identify who was guilty. The Government further specified that the investigation was in progress and had been considering different possible versions of Ali Gastamirov's abduction, including the involvement of Russian federal servicemen.
148.  In her observations submitted in reply to those of the Government, the seventh applicant questioned the relevance and accuracy of some of the witness statements collected by the investigation and submitted or cited by the Government. She relied on the statements made by her relatives and neighbours to the Court (see paragraph 39 above).
149.  As regards the difference in her and her husband's statements of 13 and 18 May 2002, she explained that they had at first been frightened and disoriented by the events and had not wanted to put the lives of other witnesses, including their family members and neighbours, in danger. Thus, at first they had decided to tell the investigator that they had witnessed their son's detention. The applicant also alleged that she had had no legal assistance at the time and could not fully grasp the meaning of the procedures.
150.  For their part, the Government questioned the evidential value of the testimonies collected by the seventh applicant, which did not comply with the guarantees of criminal procedural law.
151.  On 27 February 2008 the seventh applicant applied to the Achkhoy-Martan District Court, complaining about the refusal of her request for access to the case file (see paragraphs 69 and 74 above).
152.  On 10 March 2008 the district court partly allowed the applicant's complaint. The court declared that the district prosecutor's refusal of her request for access to the case file was unlawful. At the same time the court stated that the applicant did not have the right to study the entire investigation file until the completion of the investigation. The court thus ordered that the applicant be allowed to access and make copies of the following documents: decisions to conduct investigative steps and procedural records of such steps which had been conducted in her presence; decisions to carry out forensic examinations, regardless of the nature of the experts' actions and conclusions; decisions to open an investigation in criminal cases; decisions to grant or refuse victim status to the applicant; decisions to stay or close the investigation; decisions to make an accusation against a specific person; complaints submitted in connection with the criminal case if such complaints affected the victim's rights and legal interests; and decisions to establish an investigating group.
153.  On 30 April 2008 the Chechnya Supreme Court upheld the decision of 10 March 2008 on appeal.